


Me, You, & a Puppy too

by geewhizmo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Animal Shelter, Bickering, Cuddles, Dogs, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Kissing, M/M, Pet Sitting, Puppies, Sleepy Cuddles, pet adoption, side zarry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 22:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4037104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geewhizmo/pseuds/geewhizmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam and Louis decide to adopt a puppy together. What follows is a bit hectic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Me, You, & a Puppy too

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gl0rificus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gl0rificus/gifts).



> Written for the 1dexchangeforall and based off this prompt: “AU where Liam and Louis are a couple living in London and they decide to adopt a puppy. However, they have very different ideas on how this puppy should be raised.”  
> (i didnt actually make any explicit references to London in here, sorry! but hopefully this is kind of what you had in mind otherwise?)
> 
> Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any members of 1D, or anyone remotely connected to them, this is a work of fiction and i'm not making any money on it. Also, despite my best efforts, I am by no means a dog behaviour/training expert.

“Leeyuuuuuum, come on! Get up! Put some pants on, we’re going to be late!”

Liam blearily opens his eyes to see Louis’ beaming face a couple inches away.

“C’mon Liam, get up!” Louis whines, emphasizing his frustration by bouncing on the bed.

“”Hreumff,” Liam mumbles into his pillow, pulling it over his head as a safety precaution when Louis’ foot very nearly squashes his ear. Normally, Liam would be the first of the two out of bed, but he was so nervously excited about getting a dog today that he hadn’t been able to fall asleep till the wee hours of the morning. It was even worse than when he’d try to force himself to go to sleep for Santa Claus to bring presents when he was a kid, and ended up staying up all night in his excitement.

“We don’t even have an appointment,” Liam tries to protest as Louis finally loses his patience and yanks away the covers completely.

“Well, other people might have, and by the time we get there all the puppies will be gone. Now get up!”

“Fine, fine,” Liam gives in and successfully pulls himself upright. Louis slides off the bed and starts tossing him some relatively clean clothing from the floor. When he turns back, Liam’s still sitting there on the bed, draped in clothes and in the middle of a very big, very unproductive yawn.

“Babe,” Louis tuts, flicking a sock off of Liam’s face so he can lean down to kiss his cheek. Liam giggles as Louis brushes their noses together before kissing his other cheek.

“Do you think,” Liam whispers, “You could make me a mug of tea?”

“Hm, will you be ready to leave by the time it’s done?”

“Ready like confetti,” Liam promises.

“Well, maybe I will then, now up!” Louis commands, pulling away to jab Liam in the tummy before heading out to the kitchen.

.....

Fifteen minutes later they’re in the car on their way to the animal shelter. They’d barely pulled out of the driveway before Louis snatches up the auxiliary cord and starts blasting Snoop Dogg.

“Isn’t he Snoop Lion now?” Liam remarks after a few minutes.       

“Nope, he changed it back, said his new hat was really itchy or something,” Louis says, blowing on his tea before setting the thermos down in their makeshift cup holder. The car had only come with one, which was rubbish, but Liam had made an extra one for Louis the day after they moved in together. It was mostly made of duct tape, but Louis adored it, using it even more than the original one.

“Really? Pfff, that’s a bit silly,” Liam chuckles as they pull up to a stop sign.

“I know,” Louis chuckles, wiggle dancing around in his seat as Liam fumbles with the cord and the music changes to _Who Let the Dogs Out_.

.....

 

“Lou, why couldn’t you let me sleep in just a bit longer?” Liam grumbles as he turns off the car, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night and there are no other cars in the parking lot.”

“Hey,” Louis warns, flicking him in the shoulder, “You know very well that if you’d slept in much later it’s totally possible that a whole busload of kids could’ve pulled up and picked out all the puppies. The early bird gets the worm, as you are so fond of saying yourself, Mr. Liam.”

“Oh my god, it’s 8:30!”           

“So? You’ve woken me up much, much earlier just to go on a nasty stinking hike up the biggest arsehole of a mountain in the whole-”

“No, Louis, look at the window,” Liam plunks his head on the steering wheel and groans. “There’s literally no one here, they don’t even open for another hour…”

“Ah… I see.”

Liam decides he’s going to try and catch a few zees while they wait. He pushes his seat back and tries his best to ignore the sounds of Louis playing games on his phone.

It seems like Liam’s only just managed to drift off when he hears a loud tapping noise next to his ear and he startles awake. Louis lets out a terrified squawk and topples over from where he had been leaning against Liam’s shoulder.

“Hey there!” Someone says, and they both turn to glare at a curly haired boy peering in their window.

“Hey there,” he says again, smiling with all his teeth, “We were just opening up the place, I’m assuming you’re here for animals? But yeah, I just wanted to let you know you can come in in another like, five minutes, if you wanted to? See you in a bit then!” And with that he turns and skips back to the shelter.

.....

“Hiiiii, I’m Harry!” Greets the grinning curly guy as he welcomes them in. “Welcome to Purrfectly Pawesome Animal Shelter, I hope you sleepyheads had a good sleep. How may I help you?”

Louis sighs heavily at the mention of the shelter name, while Liam grins politely and tries very hard not to react.

“Hello, we were hoping to find a puppy here. I’m Liam, and this is Louis.”   

“Pleasure to meet you both,” Harry smiles, swiping a few stray curls of hair back into a raggedy headband that Louis is certain must’ve been cut off of an ugly Christmas sweater. “If you’ll hang tight for just a jiffy I’ll grab someone to show you around.” He shoves his head through a back door and hollers “Zayn! You better wake up, there are people here for you!”

A few seconds later, a head of elegantly ruffled black hair pops out and another boy emerges.

“I wasn’t sleeping,” he grumbles in Harry’s direction as he shuffles out, rubbing at his eyes before turning to Liam and Louis.

“Hey, I’m Zayn.” He grins and they introduce themselves, “Guessing you’re here to meet a special someone, eh?”

“That’s the plan, yep,” Louis says, grinning back.

“We’re here to get a dog,” Liam adds, just in case that wasn’t clear.

Zayn chuckles and gestures for them to follow him to another room. The minute his key clicks in the lock and the door creaks open, a chorus of excited barks and yaps start up.

“Meet the pack lads,” Zayn yawns. “All varying degrees of Mr and Mrs Heinz, is there anything in particular you were looking for?”

“Nope.” Louis says at the same time Liam asks “Maybe something smallish?”

“I’ll just show you around and you can see if anything jumps out at you, yeah?” Zayn asks.          

“Maybe even literally!” Harry exclaims, poking his head through the door.  

“I’m actually giving them a tour right now Harry,” Zayn reminds him, “Now shoo!” Harry does, but not before blowing him a kiss which Zayn discreetly pockets. Louis sneaks a delighted glance at Liam, who mimes a _hush,_ and neither of them comment on it when Zayn turns back to join them again.

“Erm, ok, now where was I….” Zayn mutters, rubbing at the back of his neck as he tries to appear nonchalant. “Ah yes, so in the first pen over here,” he clears his throat, “we have a bunch of yorkie/shih tzu puppies.”

“Ooh, can we go in there with them?” Liam asks, delighted as the little puffballs bounce around in circles when Louis wiggles his fingers through the chain links and makes silly faces at them.

When they get inside the cage Liam promptly slides down to the floor and lets himself be swarmed by a dozen wagging little bodies. “Wow, this is so nice,” he says blissfully. “I could just lay here forever.”

“Watch it mate, one of them’s made a puddle by your elbow,” Zayn warns and Liam opens his eyes with a start and sits back up so fast he almost hits his head on the wall. Louis cackles while Zayn coughs and scratches his nose. It’s very possible that he’s hiding a chuckle.

Louis picks up the puppy that almost peed on Liam and giggles as it licks at his face. “God, you’re all so sweet, I don’t know how we can possibly pick just one of you!”

“We’ve still got plenty more to look at if you want,” Zayn reminds them. “You can always come back too.”

He takes them around all the cages and they meet many more dogs. Liam and Louis are in the middle of a debate between the pug/beagles (“They’re called puggles, Louis, _puggles_!”) and the scruffy terriers (“Liam, it’s literally me in dog form” “I know, but it’s hard enough with one of you running around the house as it is!”) when they come to a cage containing a single dog.

“And finally we have this girl,” Zayn says, scratching off a speck of paint on the description card. “Her last littermate was adopted a couple weeks ago so it’s just her on her own now.”

The dog has orange and yellow fur with a couple white patches that feather out from her limbs and Zayn tells them she’s a mix of collie and golden retriever with possibly some lab and shepherd as well. She has one floppy ear and one that hasn’t seemed to make up its mind yet. Her paws are comically big, the promise of greater stature when she grows up.

“Hello there,” Louis says as Zayn fiddles with the latch on the door and she wags her sweeping tail, which results in a full body wiggle, and she nearly falls over.

As soon as they’re inside with her, Louis crouches down and holds his hands out for her to sniff. Unlike every other puppy they’ve met so far, this one doesn’t jump all over them and try to lick their faces off. She places one of her front paws firmly in his palm and tilts her head up at him.

“Jeez Louise, I think she just chose you,” Liam chuckles. Louis doesn’t even snip at him for the annoying nickname, just turns to meet Liam’s gaze and, right there and then, Liam knows there’s no way they’ll be walking out of here with any other dog.

“Can you tell us a bit more about her?” Liam asks Zayn, leaning against the wall and watching them with a knowing smile playing at his lips. “Does she have any particular needs?”

“Well she’ll shed a fair bit, so you’ll probably need a brush if you don’t have one already.”

“Okay, do you have any of that here?”         

“Oh yeah, we’ve got lots of good supplies to choose from, Harry can show you later. She’ll also need a fair bit of exercise, lots of walks, she’ll probably be into fetching and that too, maybe even swimming.”

“Oh, that’s great, I love long walks! And Louis does too, we just love walks.”

Louis shoots him a funny look. The dog quietly tucks herself into his lap and he nearly falls on his ass.    

“Does she have a name already?” He asks instead.            

“Yeah, Harry named this one-”          

“Yes I did!” Harry suddenly seems to materialize out of nowhere between them. “Her name is Dandelion because…” He bends down and ruffles her fur, “she looks an awful lot like a little dandelion puffball. Don’t you Dandelion?” he coos, and she yips at him excitedly.

“Harry, you’re supposed to be watching the front desk, get back there!” Zayn says, exasperated. Harry grins and gallops off again.

“So anyways, yeah, her name is Dandelion but like, you can totally change the name if you want to, of course,” Zayn whispers to them. “Just don’t tell Harry I said that or he might be sad.”

“Okay, we’ll think about it,” Louis promises, standing up with an armful of fluff. It looks like she’s smiling and Liam reaches out to pet her head.

“I didn’t even know dogs could have dimples.” Liam admits, shaking his head in wonder as she nuzzles into his hand. “I think she’s our girl.”

“Really couldn’t tell mate,” Zayn laughs. “Alrighty, let’s go back out front for the business side of things.”

Zayn gets Liam started with filling out papers while Harry (who makes a noise not unlike an excited walrus when he sees which dog they got) takes Louis through the pet supplies. After a while Louis comes back to the front counter, leading the dog on a new collar and leash.

“So, have you decided on a name yet?” Zayn asks.

“Well,” Louis starts, but he’s interrupted by Harry clearing his throat.

“Y’know,” Harry chuckles dramatically. “Something _really_ funny happened here like, oh my god what was it, like 2, 3 months ago? Zayn, when was it again?”

“I dunno, please just get on with it Harry,” Zayn mutters, rubbing a hand over his face and Liam can’t help but be reminded of himself when he first met Louis.

“Okay so like. There were these two mums in here like, _sometime_ not too very long ago, and they brought their twin daughters here cos it was their birthdays and they’d promised them that they could get a dog. So they were all in here to pick out a dog and I was showing them around and we were looking at all the dogs and first they thought they wanted a lap dog, see. But then I said any dog can be a lap dog if you just believe hard enough! And then they thought maybe they wanted something that could swim really well-”

“Harry.”                      

“Yeah okay, so anyways, they picked out a dog and then they were trying to figure out a name for it and one mum said like a tree or flower sort of name would be nice, and so then the girls got their heart set on ‘Hickory’ and their mums were like _well okay_ , and they were filling out all the papers and stuff, and the girls were playing with the dog and trying to teach him tricks and they were calling him like ‘Hicky, hey lil Hicky, come here Hicky!”

Louis makes a strangled choking sound and Liam tries to cover his mouth to hide his own snort from escaping.        

“Cos, y’know right? That Hicky can be short for Hickory, yeah?” Harry says, barely holding in the laughter threatening to spill out of him like some kind of demon.

“I’m sure they know that Harry-”                                                                   

“-But the children!” Harry continues, flinging his arms up in mock horror, “They didn’t _know_ what that meant, _right?_ And their mums were just looking so mortified but they couldn’t say anything cos the girls were so happy, and yeah, it was hilarious, Zayn practically pissed his pants.”

“Anyway,” Zayn cuts in, elbowing Harry fondly into the wall, “Did that bit of masterful storytelling inspire you two to decide on a name?”

“Well,” Liam chuckles, “I don’t think anything could possibly top ‘Hickory’ but um, I think we like Dandelion actually?” He glances over at Louis who nods back. He’d been thinking the same thing.

“Really?” Harry squawks, nearly smacking himself in the face.

“Yeah,” Louis says. “We might call her ‘Dandi’ for short or something…”                

“Gahh, that’s really cool!” Harry exclaims. “Hardly anyone ever keeps my names!”          

“Alright, Dandelion it is then,” Zayn says, trying to hand them the pen while keeping himself upright as Harry clambers up over his shoulders. “Now if you’ll please sign here and- Harry get your hair out of my face or you’ll eat it- and also here… Congrats, you’re now the proud owners of Dandelion.” Zayn grins at them and Harry gives them a thumbs up over his head. “Now is there anything else you two need?”

“Um yes actually, do you have like, any good books or pamphlets on how to go about raising a puppy?” Liam asks.   

“C’mon Li, we don’t need any of that, we’ll be fine,” Louis chastises. “He’s just nervous,” he informs Zayn and Harry, “We’re going to be great dog owners.”

“Which is exactly why I think we need a guide,” Liam argues, eyebrows knitting together. 

As stubborn as Louis may be, Liam can be terribly bull headed when he gets something into his head he feels is really important. For now, Louis decides to indulge him and lets him have the dog guide Harry offers.

“This is our most popular pocket guide,” he explains. “There’s some really good tips here that usually work for a lot of people, but you’ll probably figure out your own way of doing things that best suits you guys and Dandelion after a couple weeks or so.”

But Liam’s no longer listening, the text on the front assures him he has found the definitive guide to properly raising a dog and that he need look no further than the pages within for guidance.

Louis rolls his eyes. This should be fun.

.....

Dandelion whines a little bit as they drive away from the shelter but overall she does quite well with riding in the car. At one point, however, she does try to climb over Liam to stick her head out his window while he’s driving, but Louis quickly tugs her back to his lap and opens his own window for her to look out of.

“Keep a hold on her now,” Liam warns, eyes darting back and forth from the dog to the road. “Don’t let her fall out.”

“She’s fine Liam, relax,” Louis assures him, but he tightens his hands around her middle slightly, just in case.

When they get home, Dandelion practically sails out of the car. It’s actually hard to tell if she does touch ground anywhere between the car and the house, but eventually they get her inside and she sets off to explore. Louis goes to follow her but Liam grabs his arm.

“Okay,” Liam announces, pulling the dog guide out of his back pocket. “Now we’re supposed to give her some time alone to explore her new home and get used to all the different smells.”

“What, like we step out of the house?” Louis asks, scratching his head. “Won’t she think she’s been abandoned or something?”

“No, it... it doesn’t say anything about that,” Liam frowns, scanning the lines. “But it says she’ll be really overwhelmed trying to get used to everything at once, especially us.”

“Uh… okay, let’s just go stand in our yard for a few hours then,” Louis scoffs as they head out the door.

They make it about five minutes before Louis starts complaining, and fifteen minutes before he convinces Liam that they should probably bring her bed and food bowls and toys inside to get used to as well.

When they open the door they are greeted by the unmistakeable smell of fresh dog poo and a guilty-looking Dandelion who is nonetheless thrilled to see them again.

Louis shoots a glare at Liam. “I told you we shouldn’t have left her alone.”

“When you gotta go, you gotta go!” Liam shrugs helplessly. “But _that_ is a _bad_.” He says to Dandelion, pointing at the pile in the middle of the kitchen floor. “That is very _bad_ , no pooping in the house, unless it’s the toilet, which you can’t use anyways, so definitely _no pooping_ in here.”

Louis loses three rounds of rock, paper, scissors and has to clean up the mess while Liam goes to set up Dandi’s bed and things in the living room. Louis is just washing his hands when he hears a strangled “Noooooooooo…” come from the living room. He runs over with still dripping hands, expecting the worse, and he finds Liam standing in horror over a freshly made puddle in the carpet.

“Dandelion, no,” Louis gasps. He spots the puppy hiding guiltily behind the sofa and carries her outside to show her where to do her business while Liam frantically gets to work scrubbing out the piss.

.....

“How do you feel about a walk?” Liam suggests a while later. “We could introduce her to the park, I bet we’ll take her there a lot won’t we?”

“It’s really close so yes. We can even get some brekkie afterwards, or I guess that’d be lunch now?”

“Sounds great!” Liam agrees. “Ooh hold up, you get her leash on while I go grab something!”

He dashes off to go through the bag of toys and comes back holding up a long orange handle with a ball-shaped scoop at one end.

“The fuck is that?” Louis asks.

“You’re the one that bought it Louis.” 

“So? The fuck is it?”

Liam sighs. “It’s a ball-thrower. You like, put the ball in the scoopy thing here and then you just… throw the ball?”

“That sounds ridiculous, why would I get that?”

“I think it’s made so the dog can get a good work out while you don’t have strain yourself too much.”

“Brilliant invention,” Louis decides. “Let’s go.”

.....

“Walking should really not be as hard as you’re making this, pup,” Louis mutters, digging his feet into the pavement to stop Dandelion from running off to smell everything at once.

“You have to tell her to ‘heel’ in a deep, firm voice,” Liam advises, nose buried in the pamphlet.

“Really Liam? That literally never occurred to me,” Louis hisses out through gritted teeth. “Fine,” he gives up and lets Dandi yank him off the sidewalk. “You can sniff this one fire hydrant.”

“You’re not supposed to let her drag you around like that, you’re the one in charge of the walk, so it’s up to you to decide where you go.”

“If it’s that simple, maybe you should give it a go?” Louis offers, holding out the leash.

“Alright.” Liam tucks the dog guide under one arm and reaches for Dandelion.

While Liam is a bit stronger than Louis, he does not have much more success in convincing Dandelion to walk calmly next to them, even though he used a deep stern voice that has Louis fighting giggles next to him. By the time they get to the park they’re both worn out, while Dandi is still bouncing with energy.

“Here, let’s just throw the ball for a bit,” Louis pants, reaching down to unclip the leash.

“Wait, no!” Liam gasps. “She doesn’t even know how to heel, do you think she knows how to come back when we call her?”

“Well, what do you propose then? One of us just holds the leash and let her drag us around every time she goes after the ball?”

“No, I just, maybe we should go home and get her to run around the yard and throw the ball there…”

“Liam, come on! We just got here.”

“I know, I know, but maybe we should just…” Liam trails off, not sure exactly what to say.

“You’re making this way too complicated babe, she’s a puppy! She’s got stumpy little puppy legs, where would she even go?”

“She could run into the street and get hurt, Louis, I’m just being cautious.” Liam protests.  

“God, this is ridiculous, Liam, you’re ridiculous! Come on Dandelion, apparently the Children’s Park is just too dangerous for you, we’re going home,” Louis huffs and Liam can tell he’s especially on edge because he’s hungry.

“Hang on, I’ll buy us something first,” he offers, holding out his hand.                      

Louis sighs a little, but takes it. “Ya donut.” He mutters as Liam steers them towards a crepe stall. The crepes are delicious and Louis’ mood improves considerably, swinging their hands together as they walk back home. Dandelion’s still no good at heeling, but they’ll work on it.

.....

Liam dedicates the rest of the afternoon trying to teach Dandelion some basic obedience tricks. He tries to make her stay but that only works for about ten seconds before she gets bored of immobility and dashes off to sniff at a dust bunny. He tries to get her to come to him when she’s called next, and he thinks he’s succeeded until Louis walks in munching a sandwich, and Liam can’t even get her to look in his direction, let alone come to him. Sitting, laying down, and rolling over prove to be equally impossible, and Louis cackles when Dandelion bounces around with her innocent doggy grin, oblivious to Liam’s wishes. Finally Liam gives up and flops down on the sofa, rolling over onto his tummy and sagging into the couch cushions.

“Cheer up drama queen,” Louis chuckles, clambering over the armrest and perching himself atop Liam’s bum, even though there’s a perfectly good chair right next to him. “Wanna bite?” he offers, shoving the half-eaten sandwich next to Liam’s ear.

“No thanks,” Liam yawns, shoving his head under a pillow. Sleepiness is creeping in on him now that they’ve got the puppy home and things feel less hectic. “Get your arse off my arse,” he mumbles, though he can barely feel Louis’ weight. “I’m trying to have a nap.”

“But your buns are just so comfy,” Louis whines, patting his seat. He reaches down and drags his fingers through Liam’s hair. Liam hums, relaxing into the touch and drifting off to sleep, too tired to realize Louis is probably spreading breadcrumbs all over his scalp.

.....

Louis wakes him up with an excited shout a while later.

“Guess what?” Liam doesn’t think he’s awake enough to deal with this beautiful little demon shrieking in his face. “I got her to sit!”

“Wait, what?” Liam asks in astonishment, pushing himself up from the sofa and feeling very much awake.

“I got her to sit!” Louis repeats.

“Really?” Liam can’t help but feel a bit skeptical since Louis hasn’t so much as opened the dog guide.

“Don’t believe me just watch!” Louis sing-songs before leaning down where Dandelion is wagging her tail. “Dandi, sit.” He orders and immediately she plops her hindquarters into the carpet.

“Oh my god, how-?” Liam starts but then Louis tosses Dandi a tidbit of meat from his sandwich.

“Louis…” Liam groans.

“What? She sat.”        

“Yeah, but now you’ve gotten her food-motivated.”

“She’s always been food motivated,” Louis scoffs. “She’s a dog. She eats food. Literally anything living is food motivated.”

“It says right here on page 3 of the handbook not to train her with food cos if you give her treats every time she listens to you, then she’ll always expect them as a reward. We can’t always be feeding her every time she does something we want her to.”

“Yeah, but eventually we’ll wean her into believing that hugs and pets are the best rewards for doing those things.”

“That’s not what the guide says…”

“Liam, come on. Didn’t they even say she’s part lab? Those guys are hooked on nothing _but_ food.”

“Fine, fine. Ugh, all this talk of food is making me hungry, think I’ll go start on dinner,” Liam decides, standing up and stretching. “Can you finish unpacking and setting up her things?”

Louis nods, then notes the strange look on Dandelion’s face and quickly grabs her and jogs to the door. “Soon as I take her outside to piddle!” he calls over his shoulder.

 _Crisis averted_ , Liam thinks, looking at the clean carpet. Well, relatively clean. The two of them have probably made more of a mess of it than Dandelion ever will.

.....

Liam makes a lasagna and reheats some leftover string beans for dinner. Louis suggests feeding Dandi before they eat so she’s less likely to feel like begging. It’s a good idea, and it doesn’t actually go against anything the pamphlet says about food. It does say you should make her wait patiently for the food before you give it to her.

They dish out a scoop of the puppy chow into her bowl and she’s already bouncing around their heels in excitement.

“Here, you make her sit, then I’ll put the food down.” Liam offers, holding the bowl behind his back, but the puppy only has eyes for her food bowl and doesn’t pay any attention to Louis.

They try a few more times, switching places, hiding the food where she can’t see it and won’t be distracted, but she still smells it out. Finally, as their own food is getting cold, they decide that forcing her bum to touch the floor for 3 seconds is basically sitting (for now) and she’s all over the food the instant it hits the ground.

“Let’s say we work on the whole ‘wait till we say it’s ok to eat’ thing next time.” Louis suggests as they go to dish up. “I’m not keen on losing a finger when she gets bigger.”

“Good plan,” Liam chuckles.

The rest of the evening is fairly uneventful; after supper, they clean up the kitchen and help Dandi try out some of her new toys. A squeaky toy in the shape of a cartoon frog and a thick knot of rope are her favourites, and she’s already showing promise with tug-of-war. Later they snuggle up on the couch to watch _The Room_ together, getting up at every commercial break to let Dandi outside. It’s not a huge yard, but there’s a tall fence she won’t be able to get over, and she loves running around the lawn. They’ll just have to watch her for digging up the flower beds.

Then it’s time for bed. They put Dandelion in her soft doggy bed and pet her till her eyes droop and she starts snoring slightly before they tiptoe to their own bedroom and quietly shut the door.

Louis checks both of their phones for messages before plugging them in to charge.

“Did you set an alarm for work in the morning?” Liam asks as Louis crawls over him to get to his side of the bed.

“Yes, of course I did.” Louis crawls back over him and fiddles with his phone for a moment before finally getting under the covers himself.

“Night Leem,” He mumbles as he switches off the light and cuddles into his side.

“Night Lou,” Liam answers, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and smiling into his hair. _Today was a pretty good day_ , he thinks to himself as he drifts off to sleep.

Dandelion wakes up half an hour later and starts crying when she decides she doesn’t want to sleep by herself.

“No,” Louis whispers. “What should we do?”

“Nothing,” Liam answers. “We do nothing so she gets used to sleeping by herself.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Right.”           

They lay there for a few moments, not moving a muscle as Dandelion keeps crying. Then Liam sits up in bed.

“I have to go pet her. Then she’ll know she’s not alone and she can go back to sleep.”

“Liam, that’s a stupid idea.” Louis wraps himself around Liam’s waist, anchoring him to the bed. “If we go to her now, she’ll think we’ll come every time she cries and she’ll never know to stop. Didn’t your book thingy say anything about that?”

“No… it just said we shouldn’t let her sleep with us… for pretty much the same reasons you just said.”

“There you go. Now we are going to put our pillows on our heads and go back to sleep, she has to stop crying eventually.”

She doesn’t stop for a long time. Liam and Louis end up wrapped tightly around each other to stop them from getting up to see her. She does finally stop for good around midnight, but it takes them forever to relax enough to fall asleep after that.

.....

When the alarm goes off the next morning, the bedraggled pair drag themselves out of bed and Dandelion greets them looking well rested and happy to see them. Liam takes her out for a quick poo around the block while Louis hogs the shower. When he gets back, there is food in Dandi’s bowl and Louis’ just finished buttering a bagel for each of them before they have to head off to work.

Liam works as a mechanic and Louis is a preschool teacher. They get their lunch break off together so they can drive home and take Dandelion out for a walk. Louis drives just slightly over the speed limit, both of them desperately hoping to get home before Dandi makes a mess on the rug.

When they open the door, it’s to find Dandelion has not relieved herself, but she did chew up something that wasn’t a chew toy, which is almost worse.

Liam quietly scolds Dandi as Louis drops to his knees and cradles the remains of his favourite pair of Toms.

“Louis… I’m, I’m so sor-” Liam starts but Louis holds up a hand and shushes him.

“No words,” he whispers. “No words.”           

They put the shoe bits in a cardboard box and stick them on top of the shelf in the entryway. Then they take Dandelion for a walk to the Park. Liam’s still too nervous to take Dandi off the leash but they all run around together and it’s fun. They buy Paninis and soda pop and jokingly toast to the memory of the shoes before heading back.

Louis’ shift ends a few hours before Liam, so he and Dandelion have a quiet little ceremony in the backyard where he buries what’s left of the shoes, sliding a flat rock over the loose dirt so she won’t dig them up.

Dandi is fairly quiet throughout the burial, seeming to sense that this is a solemn affair. After it’s done, Louis yawns and stretches out on his back in the middle of the lawn. Barely a moment later, there’s a wet nose nuzzling into his elbow and Dandi slides under his arm and curls up on his chest. Louis smiles and closes his eyes, enjoying the warm, gentle breeze as the afternoon slowly drags into evening. Liam manages to get off work early and he finds them napping there together soon after.

For all his dramatics, Louis isn’t the least bit mad at Dandelion; he knows she’s a puppy with chewing tendencies and he’s got plenty of other shoes to wear.

She never does chew anything that isn’t hers after that.

.....

That night she only howls for a couple hours, although it isn’t any easier to handle in the morning and Louis calls Harry from Purrfectly Pawesome for advice. But Harry just tells him it’s a normal thing that young dogs do when they’re growing up and adjusting to their new homes. He also reminds them to be strong and Louis can practically hear the thumbs up over the phone.

They install a dog door that day, but Dandelion hates it and refuses to go through it unless somebody else pushes the flap open for her. There are a couple more accidents just waiting at the door, but after a while of being frustrated with how long it takes them to let her outside, Dandelion finally figures out how to use the door on her own.

The obedience training gets a bit better, or it does for Louis anyways. For whatever reason, Dandi rarely ever listens to Liam, even when Louis doesn’t have a treat, she still tends to obey Louis over Liam when he says the same thing. It’s a little bit frustrating for Liam, because he’s done a lot more research than Louis has and he’s worked really hard on developing a good commanding voice like the dog guide says, while Louis doesn’t seem to put much effort into it at all. When he’s in the middle of a conversation with Liam then switches to tell Dandi not to eat a stinkbug, his voice barely changes. Liam can feel himself getting a bit snappier to deal with, even at work, but he’s so frustrated and he’s not sure what he’s doing wrong. According to the dog guide, he’s doing everything right, but according to Dandelion he isn’t doing very well at all.

It takes nearly two weeks before Liam is confident enough to let her run off the leash at the Park, which also happens to be the day before their 3-year Anniversary.

They pass a blonde guy softly strumming a guitar against a tree as they enter the Park, and Dandelion tries her best to drag her way over to him but they both hold onto the leash together and pull her away and up the pathway towards the pond.

Finally it’s the moment of truth, and Liam shakily unclips the leash. Louis has the ball thrower and he gets Dandelion’s attention before chucking the ball. He throws it a little too hard though, and it sails over the pond.

“Did you underestimate how much the ball-thrower can throw balls?” Liam asks, trying very hard to keep a straight face and not burst into giggles.

“You know what, you can fuck off.” Louis mutters. Then they notice Dandelion has wandered down to the pond and is happily splashing through the mud as she chases after the ducks.      

“No. Dandi. Stop that, come here,” Liam orders, racing down and tugging her away from the pond and trying to get her attention on him and not the ducks. “No! Do not roll around in the mud. Ducks are not for chasing. Stop it.”

“Li, you’re using all those different words, won’t she get confused?” Louis asks, coming up behind him

“No… it’s the stern tone that matters. I mean, that’s what the dog guide says.” Liam says, pulling out the dog-eared pamphlet from his pocket and shaking it helplessly. “It says this is supposed to work….”

“Okay. But it doesn’t really seem to matter to her, babe.” Louis points out gently and Liam turns to see Dandelion’s happily rolling in the mud again.

“Fuck.” Liam feels like giving up. He sinks down until he can feel damp grass through the seat of his jeans. He hugs his knees to his chest and shivers.

“Liam,” Louis murmurs, sitting down beside him and wrapping an arm around him. “It’s okay, we’ll just give her a bath when we get home. Maybe someday she’ll learn to associate getting dirty with the bathtub, yeah? C’mon love, it’s not so bad.”

And it isn’t really, it’s not actually a big deal in the realm of things and Liam knows that. Dogs get muddy and they get bathes, it happens. But it feels like yet another reminder that no matter how hard he tries, Liam can’t get Dandi to listen to him.

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong Lou,” Liam sighs. “I know I do exactly what the guide says I should do. Maybe it’s just me, maybe she doesn’t like me cos I’m just not a good dog owner…” he mutters into his knees. It was something he’d been worried about for a long time when Louis first suggested getting a dog together months ago. He’d never had a dog before, he’d had turtles when he was younger, but you couldn’t really compare them.

“Liam are you kidding me?” Louis swats him on the head before tugging him closer into his side. “Dandelion loves you! She makes her cute dimple-face every time she sees you, like it’s probably not physically possible for her to like you any more than she does. And as for being a good dog owner, I swear I’ve never seen anyone try so hard.”

“But…? I’m still doing something wrong aren’t I?” Liam rests his nose on top of his arms and waits for Louis to say whatever it is that he’s stepping around. He sort of has an idea of what the issue is, but he needs to hear Louis say it.

Louis sighs. “It’s not, it’s not so much what you’re doing, like it’s not you yourself, but I think it’s how you think you have to do it?”

“Yeah?” Liam turns to look at him.

“I know you’ve been really nervous about getting a dog and wanting to look after her properly, and that’s a good thing, Liam. It means you really care about her and you want to do a good job. But, I think you’ve gotten too nervous and worried about it, and that’s not good because it makes you feel like nothing you come up with will work, but reading this thing written by someone who doesn’t know you, or me, or Dandi will work.”

“Like, I think maybe those methods that book thingy is telling you about might work really well for some people and their dogs, but it’s not always going to be the same experience for everyone. All of our relationships are gonna be different, just like relationships in general, with me and you, and our families and our friends. None of it really works the same way y’know? Like if you want a new relationship to work, you can try reading all the self-help shit you want and ask other people for advice, but at the end of the day, all the info in the world won’t help cos it all comes down to you and what works for you and whoever else you’re trying to work with. Only you can figure out what works in that situation. Like maybe she isn’t listening to you so much because she’s knows you’re a great big cuddly bug, and she doesn’t think you’re serious when you put on that deep voice the book is telling you to do when your normal voice would work just fine?”

“Basically, I’m saying that thing is a load of crap, and you should probably get rid of it because I know you can figure out what to do. We can figure it out together, you and me. Also it makes you look like a huge nerd when you carry it around with you all the time,” Louis finishes, crinkling his nose. Liam laughs and feels his chest lighten again.

“Sorry I’ve been a bit of a grumpy wanker about it,” He says softly, tugging up a bit of grass and twirling it between his fingers.

“That makes two of us,” Louis says seriously looking deep into his eyes. “I mean like, I’m sorry you’re a grumpy wanker as well-”

“Oi!” Liam swats at him in mock outrage before he pulls Louis in for a kiss.

“I love you,” He whispers against his lips and he feels Louis grin, pleased and sharp, before he kisses him again.

He loves that, for all his joking around, Louis is usually excellent at serious talks when he has to be. He can immediately pinpoint the root of the issue, sometimes before even Liam can recognize and put it into words himself. He’s good at seeing right inside Liam and pulling out things that are bothering him, which should be uncomfortable, and it is, sort of. Louis’ rarely been afraid of bringing up the elephant in the room, which used to unnerve Liam a little back before they were dating and barely knew each other. But the more time they spent with each other, Liam started to admire it. Because after he’s said what needs to be said, Louis cracks out a smile or a joke, smoothing over the wrinkles in the conversation and allowing the whatever it was to flow naturally behind them, and yet it somehow never feels like he’s making light of anything.

“Here,” he says, passing the pamphlet to Louis. “You do the honours.”

Louis moves to chuck it in the pond but Liam elbows him, saying “Hey! Don’t be a litterbug Lou!” and Louis shoves it grumpily in his pocket till they find a trashcan. He stands up and stretches, then reaches down to pull Liam to his feet.

“Up ya get,” Louis smiles but then his face pales and he quickly glances around. “Oh shit. Oh shit, shit, _shit_.”

“What-” Liam starts but then it hits him and he feels his stomach caving in on itself in horror. “Dandelion! Oh god, where is she?”

“She was just here a minute ago, fuck I didn’t even, Liam, hey! It’s okay, we’ll find her, come on!” Louis promises, and snatches up his hand and tugs him towards the pond.

“Stumpy puppy legs, remember? She can’t have gotten far,” Louis reassures him but Liam’s so worried he doesn’t know what to say, just nods and lets himself be pulled along.

They search all around the pond but find only ducks and one really aggressive goose that is probably possessed by something. They go to all of Dandi’s favourite spots around the Park and they see lots of other dogs but not their own. Liam wonders if she might have forgotten where they were and gone home, so they start towards the pathway they came in by.

“Hey! That’s Louis and Liam, isn’t it? Hi guys!” calls out a familiar voice.

They turn to see Harry and Zayn coming towards them, Zayn’s arm slung around Harry’s waist.

“Oh, hi you two.” Liam says, smiling faintly and hoping his face hides how much he feels like falling apart with worry at the moment.

“So, how are things going with Dandelion?” Harry asks.      

“Things are fine, we definitely didn’t lose her just now or anything.” Louis mumbles.

“Oh,” Harry says slowly. “Well, that’s good then, cos that would really suck,” he chuckles.

Zayn sighs. “Do you guys need any help looking?”              

“Er, maybe, yeah.” Liam says, relieved he didn’t ask for an explanation. “Well, we’re just going to check down this pathway cos she might’ve gone home, if she comes back this way let us know, yeah?”

“Yeah, alright,” Zayn nods. “We’re gonna be chilling around here for a bit, we’ll keep our eyes open for her.”

Harry looks confused. “Wait, I thought you said she wasn’t lost?”                

“Oh my god Harry…” Zayn rolls his eyes as he smacks a kiss to Harry’s temple and tugs him away.

“Don’t worry guys,” Zayn calls over his shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll turn up.”  

.....

“ _And I said whey hey hey, it’s just an ordinary day, and it’s all your state of miiiind. At the end of the day, you just have to say it’s alright…”_

“Hey, what’s that?” Louis asks as the sound of someone singing along to acoustic guitar carries over the breeze.

“Street musician or something.” Liam mutters as he scans around them, trying not to get his hopes up every time he see’s something even remotely yellow or dog shaped.

“Let’s go listen for a sec over there,” Louis points up ahead where a small crowd is gathered around a same blonde guy they saw earlier, still leaning against a tree with his guitar.

Liam tries to protest that they should keep looking for Dandelion, but Louis insists, tugging Liam along with pinpoint determination, pushing their way to the front of the crowd. Liam turns to Louis in bewilderment but his eyes are fixed on something on the ground in front of them. Liam moves to follow his gaze, takes in the guitar case lying open for donations by the buskers feet and- oh.

There, covered in mud, and panting happily up at the busker, is Dandelion.

“Dandi!” Liam gasps, sinking to his knees. She turns around instantly and clambers up into his arms to lick his face, the crowd _awwwing_ behind them. Liam knows he must have muddy paw prints all over his shirt, but he doesn’t mind a bit, just so relieved to find their girl again. Louis has his arms around both of them a moment later and Dandelion twisting around to lick as much as them as she can reach at once.

“Nice to see she’s back where she belongs,” says a voice and they peer up to see the busker beaming down at them kindly.

“Hey mate, thank you so much for finding her!” Louis says, standing up with Liam to shake his hand. “I’m Louis, this is Liam and I guess you’ve already met Dandelion.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Niall. And she sort of found me actually, heh. Got a good ear for music, that one.”

“Oh no, did we interrupt your performance?” Liam asks, taking in the crowd slowly dispersing around them, flinging coins and paper bills into the guitar case.

“Nah, you’re good, I was about to take a break anyways,” Niall waves it off.                      

“Oh good. But seriously, thank you so much, we turned our backs for one minute and she was gone, you’ve no idea what this means to us.” Liam looked like he was about to cry and possibly strangle Niall in a hug all at once, so Louis darts in to the rescue.

“We should probably head home now Liam,” He suggests, slinging an arm around Liam and tugging him away. 

“Oh yeah, we probably should.” Liam nods as he clips Dandelion’s leash back on and they turn to go. “Bye Niall!” he waves back, tears still glittering in his eyes.

“Catch you later.” Niall waves and just then Louis has an idea.

“Liam, you go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you in a second!” he says before going back to Niall.

“Hey, are you doing anything later tomorrow night?” Louis asks quietly, checking to see if Liam’s still in earshot.

“Not really, no.” Niall shrugs, tuning his guitar.                      

“Wanna make some money?”           

“Don't we all?”      

“Well, it’s our anniversary tomorrow and we wanted to go out and do something romantic but we don’t have someone to look after our puppy while we’re out, see.”

“And you think I could be that someone?”

“Sure, why not?”                    

Niall shrugs. “Yeah, alright, you want my digits then I guess?”

“Here,” Louis offers, pulling out his phone, “I’ll text you the details later, we’re just a few blocks from the park.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later then, cheers mate.” Niall grins, and they shake on it before Louis runs off to catch up with Liam and Dandi.

As they’re walking home, Dandelion walks contentedly at their sides, leash hanging loose between them, but they’re both too tired by the day’s events and too eager to get home to notice.

Then it’s time to wrestle their muddy pup into the bath tub. They haven’t had Dandelion all that long, but it’s truly amazing how she has gained the ability to sense their intent to bathe her before they even turn on the tap. First she tries to hide from them, shoving her head behind the furniture while the rest of her sticks out, tail wagging. It’s usually pretty easy to grab her, but sometimes they have to chase her around the house a little. Once they get her in the tub however, Dandi seems to lose any hope for escape and simply stands there. She stares up at them pitifully and keeps up a steady whine as they gently shampoo her fur in warm water.

“Looks like we’ll need a bath ourselves later.” Louis giggles, poking at a fleck of dirt on Liam’s cheek.

“Mm, that might be nice,” Liam hums, leaning into Louis’ shoulder, “Bubbles and cuddles,” he murmurs and Louis snorts.

The best part of giving Dandi a bath is when they dry her off. She loves the hairdryer, which is a little bit odd considering it sounds so similar to her mortal enemy the vacuum, but then it does sound like her best friend the lawnmower too. They drain the bathwater and spread out a towel on the floor and set Dandelion down in the middle of it while they crouch at either end.

Liam grabs another towel while Louis scrambles for the hairdryer but as soon as she’s free from the bathtub Dandelion shakes herself out, splattering everyone and everything before Liam manages to throw the other towel over her. Louis sighs at the dripping mess they all are before he switches on the hairdryer. Dandi starts burrowing her face in the floor towel, limbs happily flailing around as Liam rubs her down and Louis passes the hairdryer over them, keeping his hand over her so he can feel the temperature isn’t too hot.

After they’re all done and they let her out of the bathroom she runs around the house. She practically struts as her fur fluffs out around her and Liam points out she’s never more closely resembled her namesake.

That night she sits patiently for her food before Liam even tells her too and he’s so happy he starts crying and calls for Louis. Louis is momentarily alarmed when he sees his face but then Liam points at Dandelion sitting calmly next to him and Louis lets out a little gasp and snaps a picture on his phone.

…..

“Liam, go put something nice on.” Louis commands, strolling into the living room the next evening dressed in his favourite and only suit.

“Hm? I thought you liked this sweater…” Liam mumbles absentmindedly, nose stuck in a book –not the dog guide, thank god. Louis had torn it up and flushed it down the toilet as soon as they got home from the Park.

“I, that sweater is lovely Liam, your grandmother is a very talented knitter, but I’m taking you out to a fancy restaurant for our anniversary and we are both dressing up for it.” He says, pulling Liam up off the sofa and grinning when Liam finally takes in his attire and lets out a low whistle.

“Oh, but Lou, we can’t, Dandelion won’t-” Liam protests sadly.

“I know, that’s why I hired a pet sitter!” Louis explains.                     

The doorbell rings then and Dandelion launches herself off the couch, scampering to the door to welcome whoever it is.

“That’ll be him now,” Louis says, shoving Liam towards the bedroom. “Go get dressed!”

Louis runs to the door and tucks Dandelion under one arm so he can open the door without any danger of her launching herself at Niall.

“Hey, perfect timing, come on in!” Louis grins, holding the door open for Niall with his hip as Dandelion full body struggles to break free and greet him. “Ooh and you brought your guitar, that’s great mate!”

“Yeah, she seemed to like it t’other day. I swear she frowned at me when I stopped playing!” Niall chuckles, setting the case down on a chair.

“Ugh, you’re shedding all over me,” Louis tuts, plopping Dandi down on the floor and letting her waggle her way over to Niall while Louis pulls out a lint roller.

“So,” he says, turning back to Niall as he starts to roll the lint roller over his suit. “She gets half a cup of her food in like an hour or so, tell her to ‘wait’ and make sure she’s sitting before you give it to her. Then take her out for a piddle around the block a bit afterwards, her leash is by the door and there’s poop bags next to her ball thrower. Make sure she goes before you bring her back, we’re still working on the house training thing, and then she’ll probably want a nap, you got all that?”

“Um…” Niall starts, still trying to focus on how to feed her and unable to take his eyes off the lint roller.

“I made a list,” Louis chuckles, pulling it out of his pocket. “Any questions?”

“No, I think that about covers everything.” Niall says, scanning the list with relief.

“Oh and I don’t know if you’ve eaten yet, but feel free help yourself to anything in the fridge, so long as you don’t share it with Dandi,” Louis adds, tucking the lint roller back in a drawer.

“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Niall chuckles, patting his tummy.

“LIAM!” Louis hollers, “Get your arse out here!”                    

“Coming!” Liam stumbles into the kitchen, still trying to get one sock on.    

“Liam, you remember Neal from the park the other day?” Louis asks. There’s a pause, where Niall isn’t sure if Louis’ joking or if he actually forgot his name and whether or not he should risk embarrassing him to correct him. Liam speaks up before he can say anything.

“Of course I remember Niall,” Liam grins, clapping him on the shoulder and Niall’s eyebrows knit together in further confusion. Did Liam mishear Louis or are they both joking around?

“Louis’ just messing with you, by the way,” Liam chuckles, very familiar with the look on Niall’s face after knowing Louis for as long as he has, “He knows your name, he just might not use it, he likes giving people nicknames after he decides they’re friend worthy.”

“Dammit, Liam, don’t spill all my secrets!” Louis huffs. “We’re leaving, c’mon ya donut.”

“Thanks again for doing this,” Liam gushes as he pulls on his coat. “This is so nice of you.”

“Don’t mention it mate, I’m sure we’ll have fun. Besides you are paying me for it so…”

“Well, we really _do_ appreciate it,” Liam throws over his shoulder as he steps out, “I’m sure you’ve got a lot of experience with pets of course?”

“Nah, not really. Wasn’t really allowed to have any after The Incident. And then when I moved out I didn’t really care for animals enough to try getting one.”

Liam freezes, halfway out the door, “What was that?”

“Well, I dunno I’ve just been busy with school and stuff so I haven’t really had the time for-”

“No, I mean, what incident?”                                     

“Oh, that, well I used to have fish but I fed them too much and they all died so my parents didn’t think I should have any other animals after that.”

Liam slowly turns around to gape at Niall in horror who seems very unconcerned about the hole Liam is currently staring into his forehead.

“Liam, my love,” Louis coos soothingly as he pries Liam’s fingers one by one off the doorknob. “May I remind you that once upon a time your turtles literally ate each other’s feet, hm?” Liam turns pink as Louis continues. “Now let’s go. Later Noel!”

“Bye Lewis!” Niall waves as Louis pulls Liam out the door.   

“They’ll be fine,” he assures him. “You know I wouldn’t leave her with someone awful, Niall’s cool.”

.....

“Now then,” Niall says, turning himself around in a full circle before he finally notices Dandi sitting next to him.

“Well hey,” he says, “I’m Niall, maybe you remember me from the park t’other day?”

Dandi wags her tail and says nothing.                                   

“Right. So it looks like I’m supposed to entertain you for the evening or something,” Niall shrugs, holding up his guitar. Dandi wuffs and starts bouncing around on the balls of her feet as Niall makes his way into the living room and plops himself down on the sofa.

“Y’know, you look kind of like a boyband sort of girl to me,” he decides as Dandelion settles herself expectantly at his feet. “Righto, let’s start this off with a cover of one of my very first favourites from the Backstreet Boys themselves, absolute fucking legends they are, right, here goes..”

.....

“Liam, stop.”   

“Hmm?” Liam hums as Louis tangles their feet together, pulling him back from his thoughts of their pup at home.

“I said stop.”

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Liam protests, looking down and innocently fiddling with his cutlery, but he knows Louis knows.

“Exactly babe, I just popped the question and asked you to marry me but you were too busy staring sadly out the window to say a thing.”

“What, no I wasn’t, wait, you what?” Liam sputtered out, nearly stabbing himself with the fork. “Louis, I-you know I love you, so much, more than anything in the world, I love you more than Batman! But we haven’t even known each other all that long really and-”

“Liam, hey.” Louis interrupts, waving his empty hands at his face. “I was just trying to get your attention and see if you were listening. Which, clearly…”

“Oh. Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m just-”                                  

“Worrying your sweet silly head off, I know, love. Although, while we’re on the topic, what would you consider an ideal time for a proposal?”

Liam chuckles, “God, I don’t know, um. Like, a few years maybe? I dunno Lou, I haven’t thought about that yet. It just feels too big to think about right now. We’ve really only just moved here and it just, doesn’t feel settled yet y’know?”

“Do you think it could though? In a few years?”        

“I think that’s definitely a big possibility, yeah.” Liam smiles teasingly, and Louis lifts up his wine glass for a toast.

“Here’s to the future,” Louis says with a grin, “May we both continue to be excellent dog parents and everything else.”

They go to see a movie after dinner, _Mad Max: Fury Road_ , which is excellent, even though Louis almost chokes on the popcorn a couple times.

.....

They come home to find Niall stretched out on their couch fast asleep with Dandelion curled up on his belly. They watch her moving up and down with every snore for a few minutes before Louis finally suggests “We should probably wake them.”

“I guess so.” Liam whispers back.

“Wait,” Louis hisses, “What if… I drew a dick on his face?”  

“No!” Liam says sternly, which wakes Niall up just in time.

“Huh?” he says, sitting up and Dandelion slides down into his lap with a slight grumble.

“Hey, we’re back, how was it?” Liam asks.   

“Oh, you’re here, hey,” Niall mumbles, rubbing his eyes, “Sorry I didn’t mean to drift off. But uh, yeah it was fine. She’s pretty easy to hang with, and I did all the things you had on the list. You guys had a good date?”

“Yes, it was nice,” Louis murmurs, and Liam’s fingers slide into his hand, “Did you need a ride home?”

“Nah, I can walk. It’s not that far,” Niall yawns and stretches. Louis scoops up Dandelion so Niall can get off the couch and they follow him to the door.

Liam digs through his wallet. “Here you go,” he says, handing Niall some money.  

“Thanks mate. Let me know if you guys need a pet sitter again.”    

“For sure we will, and we’ll recommend you to anyone who doesn’t have fish!” Louis says, snickering. Niall lets out a cackle and even Liam joins in their laughter.

“Have a good night Niallar,” He chuckles, holding up one of Dandelion’s paws to wave goodbye

.....

Neither of them realize Dandi’s followed them into the bedroom until they’re snuggled up in bed together, Louis resting against Liam’s bare chest and tugging fondly at his chest hairs while Liam hums tunelessly and cards his fingers through Louis’ hair. It’s lovely and warm. Then they hear a soft _wuff_ and they both tense up, Liam wincing as Louis accidentally yanks out a couple hairs as Liam reaches out to switch on the light. Louis slowly turns his head to see Dandelion peering up at them over the edge of the bed.

“Jesus, you scared me for a sec there, pup,” He chuckles breathlessly.

“Go back to bed,” Liam tells her, peering over Louis’ head, and Dandi wiggles her whole body like she’s about to pounce on something.

“No!” they say at the same time, but it’s too late and Dandi leaps up onto the bed.

“No, lay down in _your_ bed, silly.” Liam rolls his eyes as she lays down on the spot. “Dandi, you can’t stay here. Dogs have to sleep on the floor, it’ll mess with your head or something,” Liam tries to explain but she’s already curling up and getting comfortable.

“Eh, I think it’s probably fine,” Louis murmurs, turning back to cuddle again. “I let you sleep in my bed and you turned out alright.”

“Hey!” Louis’ already snuffling into sleep when Liam thinks of a come-back. “It’s _our_ bed actually.”

“Whatever you say.” Louis mumbles into his chest, clearly not paying any attention.

Liam lifts his head up enough to look down at Dandelion. “Okay, you can stay here,” He whispers and she opens one eye to look at him. “But only until you get bigger,” He tacks on, which he knows is unlikely, but still. It feels good to say it anyways. Dandelion yawns, flashing her doggy dimples at him before nuzzling her nose between their feet. Liam turns out the light and they all drift off to sleep.

 

~ The End ~

 

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, there were so many times writing this i didn't think i was gonna finish it due to some sad times with irl dogs and zexit and stuffs, but i did! and it ended up being a very fun experience overall, and i hope you liked this silly lil thing :)
> 
> Thank you so very much to everyone who's supported me through writing this, so thank you B, E, E, P, & K for holding my hand and giving me tips (hopefully i'm not forgetting anyone, literally all y'all who encouraged me one bit thru my freakouts are stars!)  
> A huge thanks to my lovely betas N & T, who did a skookum job helping me out! Any remaining errors are all on me.  
> Finally a special shout out to the moderators of this exchange for making it such a welcoming and positive experience for all of us, thank u so much for organizing this!!!
> 
> (Also! the song Niall's playing in the park is Ordinary Day by Great Big Sea, which is a very niall song tbh)


End file.
